Tatiana's 100 Theme Challenge
by Tatiana Winter
Summary: Stories I write in response to the 100-Theme Challenge. This is primarily AkuRoku/RokuAku, but I might just deviate from them on occassion if the theme requires it.  We shall see.  ;       The themes will become the chapter titles in all cases.
1. Beginning

**Author's Note: **I have no excuses for this... it's terrible. The only thing I can really say is that... this is all missanimefan's fault. I found the 100-Theme Challenge on her DeviantArt.

This is the first theme of 100... hopefully they'll improve.

**Word Count: **382

**Rating**: PG for now.

**Pairing**: Axel/Roxas

**Location**: AU High School

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><p><strong>Beginning<strong>

In the beginning, there was a boy on a Monday during his senior year of high school, and there was a collision... wait, wait, wait.

Actually, in the beginning there was no boy, there was no school, there was not even a planet on which to place one. No, in the beginning there was debris and dust and gas. There was a spatial void, planets and stars wanting to form, feeling around themselves until they located what it was they needed. That is _the _beginning, this is simply _a _beginning.

Now, back to the boy and his collision: it was a silly little mix-up, really. The boy was very tall and thin, especially for his age, with long spiked red hair that fell down past his shoulders. He was, what the rest of the school would call, an outcast, a loner, and a rebel. No one really picked on him, but only because they were all afraid of what he might do to them if they did.

The rebel collided with the jock. A shorter blond haired boy who spiked his hair to the latest style, and was much liked by most of the student body for, well, his body, or, I guess you could say, for his athletic abilities. He was popular. So the collision caused quite a stir, and both boys got up shouting at each other.

Neither dared to betray the secret they both hid beneath the surface. One flicker of the eyes here, a lingering glance there; if anyone around them were to pay attention, it would be obvious. No one ever paid attention to anything but themselves in high school though, so the secret went unnoticed by everyone around them.

So did the switching of the bags, for they both carried the same style of backpack, with no embellishments on the outside. The cell phone that was lost by one, and the private list that was lost by the other would cause the type of panic never before seen by either boy's group of friends, real or fake. What no one else would see was the reunion of bags, and the uncomfortable nature of the conversation...

What begins when two different boys, as opposite as can be, share the same secret from the superficial world around them?


	2. Dark

**Author's Note**: I don't even know… Theme = dark; that is all. I just kept writing, and this is what came out. I don't even know. NaNoWriMo prep has me writing to random prompts everyday if I can fit it in. I'm just not sleeping tonight to get this one in, which might explain this junk.

I don't even know…

I feel that I should also mention that the site on which I have been writing these has evaluated this piece, and claims that the overall feeling is mostly 'Affectionate,' but that the post is concerned mostly with 'death.' I don't know how that works, exactly, but there you have it. It also rated my piece R for swearing, sexual content, and violence. I hate to get your hopes up, but can someone explain to me what on earth that site is talking about? :P

Reviews are always appreciated, whether you love it, hate it, and whatever you feel in between. I'll shut up now so you can read it. ;)

**Word Count**: 2271

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><p><strong>Dark<strong>

"Who's afraid of the dark," Roxas shouted at his friends who were jeering at him from the other side of the wrought iron fence. "I'm not!"

With that he turned his back on them and continued into the graveyard, strutting as confidently as he knew how. In all honesty, he was trembling uncontrollably, uncomfortable with what he'd gotten himself into. Why couldn't he turn down a dare? It wasn't like he'd had anything to prove when Hayner had claimed no one could last an hour in this creepy old graveyard. It wasn't like Roxas had to speak up, in the first place. That didn't change the fact that he had, though.

"That's not true," he'd stupidly countered. "I could."

"Oh, really," Hayner had smirked, and Roxas had known what was coming next. "Then prove it. I dare you."

That was pretty much all that was needed, when it all came down to it. Roxas had never been able to turn down a dare in his life, and Hayner knew it. The blond had even seen how many gummy worms he could fit into his nose on a dare once, and on another one he'd tried to get milk to come out of his eyes. In retrospect, pretty much the most idiotic things he'd ever attempted were done on dares, and they didn't usually end too pleasantly. So why couldn't he turn them down? Seriously, you'd think he would have learned his lesson by now, and yet here he was... dared to stay inside of this graveyard for a whole hour.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, running his fingers over the keypad to check the time: two minutes in. Fantastic. Sighing, he slipped the thing back into his pocket, and continued moving forward.

The shaking in his limbs had died down a bit, but his stomach still quivered as he kept walking further and further away from the lights in the street. It wasn't long before he could no longer hear his friends, and not long after that before he couldn't see the street lights anymore. Darkness seemed to close in around him, and he walked on a few more paces trying not to panic as he kept going.

He couldn't hear anything moving around him, so he was alright, right?

As Roxas thought this, his foot came into contact with something hard on the ground, and the next thing he knew he was sprawling on the ground, a shout falling from his lips as he fell. Part of him hoped that his friends hadn't heard that, but mostly he was wondering what he'd tripped over, his mind conjuring up the worst as he tried to see what had been on the ground.

Had it been a dead body? Maybe it was a skeletal hand trying to pull him into one of the graves? What if there was some kind of creature in here who fed on bodies at night, and it didn't care if you were alive or dead?

Roxas had always had a pretty good imagination for things like that, though he'd been too old to be afraid of the dark for several years now. That did not, however, prevent him from sprinting to turn on a light when he had to get up in the middle of the night, or cowering in his covers at night trying to make himself feel safe when his eyes were playing tricks on him in the middle of the night. No, he could always think of some dark thing coming to get him, and reaching high school age hadn't stopped those visions.

His eyes finally adjusted, though, revealing a sinister... tree root in the middle of the path. "Great Roxas," he grumbled, "just great. Maybe the zombie tree root reached out, and grabbed onto your ankle. Ha!"

"Do you mind," a voice to his right growled, causing Roxas to jump completely out of his skin, scrambling to his feet.

"Wha-" he all but shouted. "Wh-who's there?"

A deep, exasperated sigh came from somewhere to his right, and the moon lit up two sparkling emeralds set much higher up than he would've imagined before the very tall boy stepped into the moonlight.

"Wa-wait, a minute," Roxas said, voice still shaky from surprise. "Don't I know you?"

The other boy sighed, again, and rolled his eyes, nodding. "I'm sure you do," he answered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Who didn't know him. That was Axel, the tallest, skinniest, gothiest boy in his high school. The junior that sophomore girls (and boys, but Roxas was pretty sure he was the only one who qualified here) swooned over whenever he walked by, but also the junior who got picked on so severely by the other upper classmen that it was hard to tell if he was loved or hated at school.

"Oh," Roxas didn't know what to say. Feeling his face and neck growing hot, he dropped his gaze down to his feet. He'd never mustered up the courage to talk to Axel before, and no one knew about his little secret yet so... Hayner hadn't managed to dare him to do it. "Sorry," he mumbled, drawing on the unseen ground with his toe. "I didn't know anyone was here."

There was a long pause, and for a moment Roxas thought that the other boy had turned and left him standing there. It felt like an eternity before he finally looked up expecting to find himself alone again, only to jump again when he saw Axel still standing there looking at him.

"What are you doing here," the tall good-looking junior finally asked.

"Well, uh..." Roxas fumbled. He really didn't want to say that he'd been dared, did he? How embarrassing, but... what else could he say. Sighing, he lowered his head to examine his unseen toes before admitting the truth. "I was dared to spend an hour in here by my friends."

"Ha," Axel's laugh almost sent Roxas running for the gate behind him, dare be damned, but he stilled his limbs. "Some friends," the junior went on. "Well, I was enjoying the quiet, but you're welcome to join me for an hour, if you want."

The short blond just stared at Axel for a moment, his mouth agape at the offer. Join him? Just like that? Surely he didn't mean...

Shrugging at Roxas's lack of response, the red haired boy turned away from him. "Suit yourself," he said.

"Wait," The blond interjected before Axel had even finished. "Y-yeah, I would."

"Come on, then."

As Axel said this, he began moving towards a small patch of trees that Roxas hadn't noticed before. They seemed to sit in a circle, a weeping willow at their center. If he hadn't tripped, the smaller blond might just have stumbled across the red head's little hideout all on his own. It was lit from the inside, and as Axel lifted the hanging branches, firelight caught hold of the blue eyes.

"Wha-" Roxas started, but his throat swallowed the rest of his words. Under the tree were tons of candles, a couple of books, and... was that an altar? "What is this?"

"It's my circle," Axel answered, waving around to the area like an entertainer. "Almost no one ever comes here at night, so I come here to relax and cast in peace. You gonna tell on me?"

The glint in his eyes as he said that last sentence made Roxas's breath catch. The way those green eyes had narrowed, it was almost flirty. He felt his face heating again as he shook his head a little too eagerly. If he told anyone anything about this encounter, he'd give away his secret for sure.

The red head grinned though, as though the whole thing was one big joke, and moved to sit at the center of the clearing before patting the ground beside him invitingly. Roxas obediently made his way over to where Axel had indicated, trying to ignore the shaking in his middle as he sat down next to his biggest crush. "Uh, so... you're like here every night?"

Axel nodded, not even seeming to care whether or not his answer made him sound weird or not before turning to Roxas. "And you, do you participate in these dares often?"

The blond didn't miss the teasing in the older boy's voice, and he looked down at his hands, irritated. "No," he snapped.

"Touchy," Axel sang, two hands lifting into the air, palms forward. "Forget I asked."

Roxas sighed, watching the red head from the corner of his eye. "Sorry. We just watched some stupid horror movie at the theatre, and..." He trailed off. The story about how he had ended up here was stupid, anyways. "Nevermind."

"So what were you gonna do in here for a whole hour if I hadn't found you," Axel asked him, sounding curious.

"I... uh," Roxas began. "I don't know. Freak out and run around screaming, probly."

This made Axel laugh, and, though Roxas wanted to elbow him hard for it, the sound made his stomach skip around even more than it already was. He had made the sexiest boy in school laugh, and it was a realization that made him puff out his chest a bit in satisfaction.

"I'm sorry I missed that then," the red head finally put in once he'd stopped clutching at his sides.

Roxas found himself smiling up at the other boy, wracking his brain for something else to say now. "What about you? Did I interrupt anything in particular?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "I was just sitting against that tree over there," he indicated one somewhere behind him, "with my eyes closed, enjoying the quiet, when I heard you shout."

"Ah," Roxas said, turning his head to study his fingers. "I didn't mean to, er, interrupt."

"Nah," Axel replied. "You're fine."

Unable to think of anything to say to that, Roxas just nodded. A comfortable silence fell between them for a long moment, during which the wind picked up where they'd left off. It stirred the trees around them, whispering in the leaves, and creaking in the branches. And just as the conversation around them started to really pick up, Roxas felt a prickling on the back of his neck.

Looking up from studying his fingers, he found that Axel was staring at him. "What," he asked, automatically.

"Nothing," Axel answered, turning to face one of the books that sat beside him on the ground. Roxas furrowed his eyebrows at this. That was weird, he thought, but apparently the red head wasn't done. "It's just," he began, not looking up from his book. "It's weird that you're the one here tonight."

"Uh, I'm sorry," Roxas replied sarcastically. "Why exactly?"

"Well," Axel played with the corner of one of the book's pages. "I was sorta... thinking about you when you shouted earlier."

The blond snorted at that. He couldn't help it! That was a complete load of crap if he'd ever heard it. "You were not," he retorted, irritated that the older boy was teasing him. How did Axel know? No one knew about his crush, but here were those green eyes, looking at him like, like... like what?

"Okay," Axel finally relented, glancing once at Roxas before returning his gaze to the page in his fingers.

Blue eyes just stared spiky red hair, the older boy refusing to look at him now. "But... why?" The question was so quiet that Roxas almost didn't hear his own words, as he said it half to himself and half expecting to be made fun of any second now. Somehow, someone had discovered his secret.

Silence greeted him at first, but then Axel inhaled, turning to face him. Instead of answering him, however, the older boy focused on Roxas's face an intent look on his face. Then, slowly he leaned towards the blond, who was so shocked that he just sat there frozen. The next thing either boy knew, Axel had pressed his lips against Roxas's unmoving mouth, kissing them timidly, as though he expected to be pushed off at any second.

The blue eyed sophomore just sat there, his body refusing to respond as his mind screamed at him to do something, anything!

After a short while, too short if you asked Roxas, Axel pulled away, his cheeks stained a slight orange, though maybe that was just the candlelight. "That's why," he finally said, turning away with a sigh. "Feel free to punch me now, or shout at me about being a freak, if you want."

Roxas's mouth was slightly open. He couldn't think of anything to say to that, or... hit him? He felt a pang in his chest at the idea of anyone hitting Axel, and he found himself suppressing a growl.

"I would never, I mean... I don't want to... uh..." He didn't know what to say, but as Axel turned back around to look at him, green eyes locking onto blue Roxas gave up. He knew now why he had accepted this and every other dare that had ever been thrown his way; he'd been building up his courage the only way he knew how, all for this moment.

He also knew that he would spend far longer than an hour in this graveyard, and that he would probably return tomorrow night and the night after that. As often as Axel wanted him to, because those green eyes told him the truth. And as Roxas leaned forward, pressing his lips against Axel's once again, he soared with the realization of it.

The crush was mutual.


	3. Cold

**Author's Note**: A one-shot for the 100 theme challenge that just hit me across the head when I got home. Don't know where it came from, and I'm not all that sure I like it. Let's just say, I'm glad it's a one-shot because if I finally want to write something a little darker I'd like it to be written a little better. Then again we're all our own worst critics, right? )

**Word Count**: 1,577

**Disclaimer**: Axel and Roxas belong to Square Enix and Disney... not me. Shouldn't have to say it, but there it is, nonetheless.

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><p>His whole body shook. The night air, which had seemed warm before was hitting his body like a glacial wind. He was racked by a long set of shivers that made him tense even more, and the cry of pain that slipped through his lips was completely involuntary and uncontrollable, at that point. He was going to die.<p>

**One Hour Earlier**

It had been a nice night, fall breeze tickling the leaves on the tree branches outside of his bedroom window, causing them to fidget madly. There was only so much an open window could do about bringing the night air into a cramped room, particularly when the occupant had been practically locked within it studying for hours on end with only bathroom breaks and one quick run for food. So, after reading the same page for over half an hour, Axel had decided to take a walk outside.

The moon had just been rising over campus as he'd stepped outside of his dorm room, giving the campus a surreptitious glance as he did so, but paying more attention to the scent of the night air as it filled his lungs. His body had relaxed almost instantaneously, which gave him confidence that this had been a good idea.

Not really having a plan for where he was going, he turned his long stride along whatever twists the sidewalks guided him along, watching the sky and the trees around him more carefully than which direction he was heading. Axel had never felt unsafe on campus, and even if he had, who would attack someone who was so freakishly tall? Especially at night when the shadows could hide all sorts of things that he might have hiding on his lean frame.

He didn't realize he'd taken himself in the direction of the river until he damn near slipped off of a narrow patch of the sidewalk into it. Looking around, he chuckled quietly to himself imagining having to swim to the nearest bridge at this hour, and crawling out of the muddy water, fully clothed and in full view of whatever stray group of students were hanging out between there and his dorm room.

The shadow ahead of him went entirely unseen, of course. So when a sharp pain in his side pushed a gasp from between his lips, and strange hands were violating his personal space to search his body for something, Axel was caught entirely by surprise. His hands clutched of their own accord to his side, and he registered the feeling of thick, warmth spreading over his fingers, as his eyes searched wildly for the face of his assailant. The hands were gone almost at once, a deep throated curse ringing in his ears before he was shoved aside, and loud footsteps announced that the hands were being carried away from him at a very fast pace.

Green eyes searched the night wildly for a moment, flickering from nearest light to next nearest light, and trying to determine just how far away help might be. Too far, he determined, as the world spun around him, and the concrete rose quickly up to painfully greet his ribs. "Ah!"

What had those faceless hands done to him? It was just a side wound, wasn't it? He saw people in movies and tv shows surviving hours with cuts like this, even while they were running around to save the world, or whatever other mundane thing the show's screen-writers had 'come up with.' Why was he so damned dizzy?

Not one to give up without a fight, Axel rolled over and pressed himself to his hands and knees with one hand, still covering his bleeding side with the other. He managed to press himself up to his feet, but stumbled forward only a few steps forward before crashing back down to the sidewalk, again.

And that's when the thought first occurred to him: he was going to die out here.

He must have fallen unconscious at some point because the next thing he knew Axel was blinking up at a sky that looked to have changed its colors, everything faded as though he was looking at it through film, and it was very cold. His body convulsed without his permission, shivering to a halt for a moment before convulsing again. It was so cold.

Axel closed his eyes.

When they opened again, there was light around him. He could make out four curious faces, one of which was much closer than the others. Lips crushed his forcefully pressing air into his mouth, and he sucked it in gratefully, coughing weakly when the heat inside of his mouth was removed.

"Hang in there," demanded a voice just above him.

The entire earth seemed to be spinning around Axel as he blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to get a glimpse of the person who was trying to save him; the guy. Deep blue grabbed his focus as soon as he blinked away the film that seemed determined to block out his eyesight, and then, as his gaze travelled upward, a shock of spiked, blond hair grabbed his attention.

Another voice in the near distance was talking rapidly, breathlessly. "…breathing now, but there's an awful lot of blood."

"Hang on," the blue eyes commanded, again. "Help's on its way."

He wanted to tell those blue eyes that he would do it. 'Yes, whatever you say. I will.' Except he was fading, and he knew it. The world around him shifted into and out of focus, and pure black fought with bright white for attention behind his eyelids. They drooped. If he just closed them now, he could sleep, and the pain would go away.

"Don't you die on me," that beautiful voice cried, tone rising in desperation. "Just hold on a little longer…"

But the sound was fading.

First the other voices, the chaos around him, slipped away, and then the sound of that beautiful voice that was trying to save him was dragged to the opposite side of some tunnel, far away. For a moment, all he heard was the wind as it danced with the leaves through the trees he remembered were around him, thinking, 'Damn. I should have just finished my fucking homework, instead.'

Then there was silence.

Silence was interrupted only by a rushing noise, like the crashing of an ocean wave that just continued to get louder and louder and louder, never subsiding into the calm that came at the end of the crash, before a harsh bright white hit him in the face like a wall. He couldn't see anything, but the continuous beeping nearby gave him the sneaking suspicion that he was somehow still alive.

A strange voice confirmed his notion as soon as he thought it. "He's back! Get him stabilized, we're not losing another kid tonight."

Axel was feeling alive enough, he supposed, to feel some indignation at being called a 'kid,' but his lips were still inoperable it seemed because he couldn't open them to protest. His chest thumped painfully, and his side throbbed. Did the returning and intensifying pain mean that he was going to live, or that he was dying? He couldn't ask that, either.

Somehow conscious, though incapable of moving the entire time even to open his eyes, Axel heard when the doctor confidently told the others in the room that their patient was going to be fine. He was aware of the atmosphere lightening around him, and of the instructions that were passed on to someone to deliver a message to whoever was in the waiting room on his behalf. "Let the kid know that he can see him now."

Then there was silence. Silence and more silence, until uncertain footsteps shuffled into the room, paused, and then moved more confidently closer. Axel wished he could move, speak, do anything to see who was there. His family lived too far away to have flown here by now. Who was there?

Pressure on his hand, that, after a conscious effort and a long moment of focusing on it, he managed to return; barely. After a minute or two of trying, he took a long, deep breath and cracked one eye open. Deep blue eyes met his gaze eagerly, lighting up when he looked into them. Those same blue eyes that had found him on the concrete as he died were there smiling at him.

"Why," he whispered, but his throat was hoarse and he couldn't finish.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," that voice answered eagerly, as though the speaker had read Axel's mind. "You don't know me, but I couldn't let you just stay here by yourself after that."

He could feel himself nodding weakly, as the voice trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Axel just squeezed the hand around his again, and inhaled deeply to try to say one last thing before he fell back to sleep. His body felt heavy already, he knew he was falling.

"Thanks," he finally managed, feeling his head roll away from those blue eyes without his permission.

"You're welcome," came a quiet reply, just before another voice edged into the room from further away.

"Roxas," it asked, but Axel was too far gone already to hear anything more. Sleep, rather than death, slammed into him like a charging bull, and he was out before he even had a chance to wonder where he'd heard that name before.


	4. Blue

**Author's Note:** So... morbid. Yeah, sorry. Not sure why these keep coming out that way, but hope you enjoy it anyways. I just saw 'blue' as in the sky after Roxas had fallen, jumped, or been pushed off of a cliff... for some reason, and Axel as his angel of death (or mercy, depending on your take on things.

Reviews are always appreciated.

**Word Count:** 1,118

**Disclaimer:** Axel and Roxas Property of Square Enix and Disney. This story property of me. Give credit or come up with your own ideas. Got it?

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><p>Blue filled his vision; it was all he could see. Blue, and tufts of blurry white things drifting across the clear blue. He was having a hard time inhaling, but he couldn't figure out why that was. Had he fallen? That was it! He must have fallen. Like the time Sora had playfully pushed him, resulting in a tumble off of the jungle-jim. He'd landed flat on his back, and been unable to inhale properly for what felt like far too long not to have enough oxygen. How long had he waited then? Had it been this long by the time he could breathe again? He couldn't remember.<p>

The buzzing in his ears was probably normal too, right? His whole body felt too heavy; then again it felt too light, at the same time. And everywhere he could see there was blue. It was a world of blue, like a roiling ocean of water hung above his head ready to crash down upon him, and the rushing noise that his ears made the whole thing more real than he wanted it to be.

A tinkling noise trickled towards him from somewhere else, but he could not turn his head to see where it was coming from. Had the whole world shifted just then? Again, he couldn't tell.

And then the blue was gone.

Suddenly, it was green and red filling his vision, and his eyes began to water, though he didn't know why just yet. His mind hadn't caught up with his body.

"Roxas," breathed a surprisingly soothing voice, overpowering the rushing sounds and touching him in a way that made him feel more at peace. He wanted to respond too, but without any oxygen he just couldn't. Trying to nod his head instead, a tear finally fell free from one blue eye as he realized he couldn't even make that simple gesture. And here were those green eyes, so beautiful that he had to respond!

"Shh, no. Don't even try," the voice belonging to those green eyes came back to him, speaking through the rushing around him, and seeming to sink directly into his thoughts. "Your body won't respond now. Try to relax. I'm here to take you away from here."

He didn't know why, since it wasn't as though he even knew this man, but those words did sooth him, causing the tension that had been building against that rushing, buzzing noise in his ears to seep out of his muscles. Roxas closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the world around him looked vastly different from just the second before. There was no ocean, just a large towering cliff above the spot where he lay, and a blue, nearly cloudless, sky above that. All around him were rocks and dirt and plants that looked remarkably like dead things, though he knew for a fact that the strange looking things were alive.

Then there was him… and his heart jolted at the sight because that was in fact him; himself. He was lying right there, at his own feet, broken and bleeding on the ground.

"Why are my eyes closed," he gasped, though why that question came forward before any others he didn't know. He didn't even know who he was asking, or why he'd said it out loud until the breathy voice from before answered him.

"You fell asleep before you died," it told him. "It was the only mercy I could offer you."

Roxas spun around to face the speaker, intending to shout or fight or plead or… he didn't know what he intended, but the sight of the man before him froze him where he stood. How was he standing there if he was on the ground… broken… dead… he couldn't process all of this, right now.

Those green eyes stared back at him, and they held a sadness that not even he could match at that moment even though he had just died.

"I-I," he began, but faltered. He felt like he would be crying just then if his eyes would behave like they were supposed to. However, for the first time in his life, even though he was frustrated and in pain, they wouldn't come. Roxas felt a knot in his throat as though he were crying, though.

"I'm not r-ready to d-d-die," he finally choked out.

Those green eyes just looked at him, through him, into him, and smiled sadly. "Few are ready for their time when it comes, Roxas."

Staring into those green eyes didn't seem to help him then, like they had before. Before they felt peaceful, comforting; but now he wanted to run, hide, to escape this harbinger of bad news. He stood there frozen in place, staring.

"I'm here to guide you away from here, if you'll let me," the tall figure cloaked in black continued, raising one hand towards Roxas, but without taking a single step closer.

Once blue, blue eyes assessed the situation, darting first to his own body, broken on the ground, and to the eyes behind the offered hand. He couldn't explain it, but it was those eyes that made him want to reach out and take the offered hand. They spoke to him of some kind of deep, pained love that he couldn't imagine.

The tall, green-eyed man shuddered almost imperceptibly when their skin touched, causing Roxas to hesitate just slightly before closing his fingers around the long, thin fingers, but only slightly. Then a sad smile slid onto a frail looking face, and Roxas imagined beautiful features that had been starved until they resembled this emaciated body in front of him.

"I've been waiting for you to meet me here for a very long time, Roxas," the tall figure said to him, turning away from Roxas's body and leading his new companion along with him. "I only wish that your first chance to see me didn't have to come as a result of your death." The tall man paused here, reaching his free hand around to brush it against Roxas's cheek. It felt strange, like being touched hard, inside of his skin, and yet barely being touched all at the same time; like a feather had brushed against his face.

He didn't know what to think, so he just followed and listened. Did he have a choice though, really? Roxas didn't think so. His body was without question dead behind him. The only thing he could really do now was follow this tall, green-eyed being wherever he led, and see what happened next. _And_, he thought as they continued walking_, if this is who I get to spend the afterlife with, death might not be so bad, after all. _


	5. Frozen

**Author's Note**: I don't even know, okay? Frozen = cryostasis in my mind, apparently. Make of that what you will. In the meantime, I think I give up for the night.

Let me know what you think of this, no idea if it will ever continue, but I do think it's an intriguing idea for an actually chapter fic... later... when my brain is slightly less frazzled.

**Word Count**: 666

**Disclaimer**: Words are mine; characters are not. Respect the copyright, and no one gets hurt.

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><p>Blue eyes stared blankly at him through the thin sheet of glass between them, and for what felt like the millionth time since he began working the night shift at the Cryo-lab Axel found his hands pressed against that glass and wishing he could do something about their separation. Not that he actually knew this guy, of course. It might sound creepy to other people (his friends seemed to think that working in this place was akin to working in a Morgue or worse, since the bodies weren't dead and could wake up at any moment), but Axel had met those blue eyes on his first night of work and had been coming back to visit this pod in particular every night since.<p>

He loved his job, too. Aside from those stunning blue eyes every night that he work, Axel essentially got paid to do homework and read in a quiet environment. Things so rarely went wrong that he almost had the leisurely position of just sitting behind a desk, eying the glass pods and their occupants, or ignoring them to do other things.

He probably could've had a boyfriend or a friend up, and no one would have noticed. Sure there were security cameras, but he knew the security guards would bring visitors into their area sometimes, which made him doubt that they paid much attention to what was actually on their screens or that they could actually get out quickly enough to do anything about whatever they saw. This should probably have made him feel unsafe, but he couldn't imagine anyone breaking into a lab full of not-quite-dead, frozen bodies.

Sighing, he checked the readings on blue eyes's pod before turning back to his desk for some more readings. His Ancient History professor seemed hell-bent on getting the entire class to read, understand, and appreciate some playwright named Shakespeare or whatever, so Axel was mucking through yet another play he had to translate just to read. At least this one was a little funny so he didn't completely feel like falling asleep. A Midsummer Night's Dream had to be the strangest thing he'd read thus far though, if they were keeping track.

'Lord, what fools these mortals be!' Indeed. Who would dream up freezing their own bodies just to see a future that was crumbling beneath a world of feet? Axel had never understood that idea. What if something happened to the Cryo-lab while he was frozen? What if something went wrong? What if, what if, what if… a million possibilities that could guarantee that you didn't wake up, and he did not like that.

He wondered what would compel someone as gorgeous as blue eyes to put himself into stasis, though. Axel always wondered. Was he sick, rich, or a curious lottery winner from the past? The pod carried information about its occupant, of course, in case the long span of time during which the person had been in stasis negatively affected memories upon waking, but he hadn't wanted to get his hopes up.

What if those blue eyes were scheduled to blink again when Axel was old and wrinkled? What if he was scheduled for a time far beyond Axel's years? What if those blue eyes were supposed to wake up tomorrow, and they belonged to a guy who would never look at Axel twice? He couldn't get his hopes up.

Instead, he would just sit there, daydreaming and staring into those blue eyes whenever the opportunity struck him, until the day that the guy woke up and left, he quit his night job, or he died. Not knowing which it might be… well, that was the fun part, wasn't it? After all, it wasn't as though Axel had anyone else waiting for him at home. He could afford to wait on this unknown blond with such gorgeous blue eyes that he could get lost in them for hours, even vacant as they were. What he couldn't afford to do was hope.


	6. Ice

**Author's Note: **Again, I don't know, okay? First of all, I am well aware that Roxas does not control water or ice in the KH universe. So I don't want any messages stating the blatantly-effing-obvious, got it? I just started writing about ice, and… Roxas decided to emerge with this power instead of the character I initially intended it for. So, be glad that he did, because I didn't actually plan for this to be another AkuRoku story. ;)

**Word Count: **1367

**Disclaimer: **Story, plot, and words are mine. You may not use this story without my express permission and/or without full link and credit to me as the writer. Characters, however, still belong to Square Enix and Disney. I give them full credit on that count. 3

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><p>It was a heady sort of feeling, strutting around a group of people that were literally frozen sculptures of his own making. Well, he didn't exactly 'create' them, just froze them where they stood, covering each body with ice until it could not move even to shift an eyeball. The whole thing could be dangerous to the humans if he held them like this for too long, but he'd had to make an escape and he didn't like being seen running like he was scared or something. Therefore, he strutted (rather quickly) through the frozen mass of humans, each his or her own piece of sculptured ice art.<p>

Roxas didn't see or hear the ice around one particular statue melting, and breaking away. So he had no warning for the flames that suddenly swallowed the air behind him, catching up faster than he was swaggering along. The only warning he had was a rushing noise, almost like an ocean wave just as it was about to consume everything in its path, causing him to spin on his heel and push ice into the hot storm that felt like it was about to overtake him.

"You're slow," the all-too-familiar deep voice called over their combined attacks. "I thought they were training you better at that center of yours."

Roxas tried to ignore the jab, choosing instead to push his ice forward. Unfortunately for him, Axel could definitely talk and fight at the same time. The fire matched the ice, flaming intensity to icy force, for just a moment before the heat of the fire began to lick at Roxas's cheeks. His knees buckled, and despite all of the training he knew he had behind him his body gave out on him without his permission. He saw it as though through a tunnel as his vision switched from vertical to horizontal, and then everything faded to black.

Consciousness did not come about slowly like it usually did; no, this time it hit him like a train right across the face. "Wha-" he began taking in the bright lights around him. He was caught for sure, taken to some institution for study after he passed out and the humans melted. They'd pin his arms down, glove his hands, keep him from saying anything until they could drug him up and study him.

Roxas didn't struggle, though. He just allowed his eyes to adjust to the bright light of the room, preparing to assess the situation before he panicked outright. He refused to believe that he'd made the mistake of getting caught after all of his hard work. Nothing he had ever practiced, however, could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him when he could finally pinpoint the shapes in the room with him, finally able to see the smug look on the pointed face that was smirking in his direction.

"Ah, he's awake," Axel said, looking like he was about to break into a victory dance of some sort. "Did you sleep well," he asked in a derisive tone that left no illusions that it was anything but a rhetorical question.

Roxas sighed. "How nice of you," he countered. "Not to leave me to the mercy of the humans. I didn't know you had a heart."

Axel scoffed. "Think I'd miss the chance to have a stuck-up little pretty boy like you as my prisoner?" The red-head flicked his wrist and he couldn't see how it happened (if the other guy created the fire or if there was a lighter in his palm) but suddenly there were dancing, hot flames caressing Axel's skin. He was so close to Roxas that he thought he was going to be burned alive, or something equally horrible that the mind behind those green eyes had conjured up for him.

Determined not to show any fear, he gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and prepared himself for the pain… that did not come. Hesitating, Roxas slowly opened his eyes, squinting at first to see what Axel was doing. He was rather surprised to find the other guy just standing there looking at him, flames slowly fading away in his hand, almost as though they had been forgotten.

"What," Axel began, hesitating before continuing on. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"What do you mean," Roxas answered, proceeding cautiously.

"You tensed like you expected me to- I don't know, do more than just threaten you."

"You were looking for a different reaction?"

"I-yes," he stumbled, eyes sliding to and from his face in some sort of turmoil or confusion. "What you think I was going to do… kill you?"

"I-yeah… actually," Roxas answered, matter of fact tone hiding his surprise as best it could. "What were you trying to do?"

"I don't know," Axel countered, running a fire-free palm through his long, red hair. "Did you know that when you sleep, your temperature drops?"

Roxas opened his mouth to continue the back-and-forth, inhaled, but could make no coherent sound in response to that. "Wh-ha-I…do," he managed before collecting his thoughts more fully. "I mean, yeah. I'm aware."

"I thought I'd killed you," Axel blurted before snapping his mouth shut with an audible snap, and looking away.

"I thought you wanted to," Roxas snapped back, moving to stand but finding his hands were handcuffed to the bed. He chose to glare, instead.

Axel snorted. "If I'd wanted to kill you," he said, all of his usual haughtiness returning in an instant, "you'd be dead."

"Good to know," Roxas growled, still sending an icy glower at the lanky red-head.

Silence met this response, and filled the air between them for a long moment before either male spoke, again. It was Axel who broke it, pushing the tension aside somehow with a few steps, and a gentle touch that should have (really should have) made Roxas even angrier.

"Don't you think," he began, green eyes meeting his almost seductively, "that all of this heat and anger, fire and passion comes from… somewhere?"

"I think you're," he hesitated before saying the word he hated so, "you're crazy."

Axel's eyes only narrowed a fraction, but the look that this created was playful, still teasing. "You tell me whether or not I'm crazy in a minute, then," he said, leaning forward.

It was a strange moment, where neither seemed to know what Roxas would do. Axel hesitated, leaning forward slowly, but before Roxas could even believe what was happening, too warm lips were pressed against his. In typical fashion, he froze waiting for his brain to comprehend this whole thing before he reacted to it in any way. _What, what, what?_ He had to think here. What exactly was going on; what was happening? _Shit, shit, shit_! What was Axel… _doing_?

Those lips didn't pull away like Roxas thought they would when he remained unresponsive, but before he could puzzle out the motives for that he realized with a jolt that he _was_ responding to Axel's kiss. Why, though?

He wanted to figure the whole thing out now; tell the body that was experimentally pressing itself against his to stop until he could think things through properly. After all, they hated each other… didn't they? Axel didn't stop though, instead deepening the kiss, and starting to press against Roxas more forcefully. It was about that moment that Roxas stopped thinking about what he was doing, and just let himself react. Actually, if he were being realistic about this whole thing, he might have to justify to himself why his legs were wrapped around the other male's hips, pulling that too-warm body closer against his. Particularly when he didn't remember actually deciding to do anything like that.

This didn't mean that they weren't still enemies. He didn't know what it meant actually, but that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy feeling that burning skin pressing insistently against his own like… like there was a need there that was begging to be fulfilled. So Roxas surrendered to the sentiment, the need inside of himself that somehow seemed to match what the red-head was feeling. He'd worry about what it all meant later; for now he would focus on this… and on Axel.


	7. Pain

**Author's Note**: The important thing to note here is that, as usual, I don't even know. I don't know where this came from, or why, after I realized where it was headed, I even finished writing it. All I know is that… I don't even know. So, yea. Hopefully someone out there is less confused than I am, because… yea. Enjoy?

It should also be noted that I did not proof this, at all. I am tired, I have had a bad week and a long weekend… you're lucky I finished this. :P

**Word Count**: 1389

**Disclaimer**: Here's a list you're not going to expect. ;) Batman, Catwoman, Axel, Roxas, and the like do not belong to me… but the story is mine so hands off!

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><p>That punch hit him like a brick wall, sending him sprawling on his back once again and he struggled to get back up. Shit, this opponent might just end his crusade, he thought as he scrambled into an upright position, only to get knocked off of his feet yet again. What the hell was this guy made out of?<p>

Of course the hits hurt, but he knew he wouldn't feel any real pain until tomorrow; if he made it to tomorrow. What he did feel was the energy he'd started the night with beginning to seep out from his body, which was now refusing to listen to his commands to get back up. As he struggled, another explosion happened between his shoulder blades, and he collapsed flat on his chest, the huff of all of the air being shoved out of his lungs leaving his mouth as though it was nothing. There wasn't even enough oxygen left to groan as a large hand grabbed hold of the back of his neck, and easily lifted his body into the air. Shit.

"Not so tough now, are you," the deep booming voice growled before finishing with a sneer. "Batman?"

Green eyes flashed, but he knew better than to just react to words like that now. Instead, he let his body rest, allowing his limbs to remain limp and giving himself a sort of lifeless air that might be mistaken for defeat by these sorts of enemies.

Neither one of them expected the whip that knocked the feet out from under the frozen suit that was holding them both up, or the purring chuckle that echoed off of the buildings around them.

"Looks like you could use some help, Mr. Bat," came a voice that made his blood boil, while simultaneously exciting him in other ways.

Today however he couldn't do much more than groan as the battle between his enemy and his… well, what was the cat-burglar? His enemy who was sometimes a friend sometimes a foe and sometimes almost a lover would make the blue-eyed boy with no name what to him? It was really hard to do all that much thinking with the ringing in his ears, and the shouts echoing up from who knew where.

A hiss and a pained shout caused him to worry enough to struggle to his feet, trying his best to come to the defense of this creature whose relationship to him could not be defined just then, but before he had stumbled more than a few steps a loud crash below announced that, whoever the winner, the fight was over. He paused, despite himself, as Batman listened to the surrounding noises for any hints as to who he would be battling before the night was finished. The soft landing behind him answered that question.

"Off your game today, ha, Batman?"

The tall, black-masked figure spun to meet another blue mask, this one revealing blue eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. He couldn't show weakness, so he wouldn't. Except that his legs chose that exact moment to give out and Batman felt his tall body sink slowly down the wall he had been trying to look over just a moment ago. Well, today was as good a day as any to die, was it not?

No sooner had he thought that than there were soft hands touching his face, concern lighting those usually mischievous blue eyes.

"What is it," the boy in stitched leather asked, and that same worry was in his voice, as well. "I've never seen you…"

He looked up, but the oxygen getting into his lungs apparently wasn't enough because it was impossible for him to speak in more than a whisper.

"Nothing… fine. Just… need to… Batmobile."

Despite what was obviously still anxiety in those captivating eyes, the boy in the cat-suit laughed. "That's more like it," he said, but those paws…er, hands were still probing his body with a kind of gentleness that spoke of worry or care.

Then a sharp pain shot through his body, stabbing him somewhere deep in his middle, and affecting his ability to breath properly. He didn't hear the strangled yell that exited his lungs, but he saw those blue eyes widen in fright, before softening. Then everything went black.

Before he woke, Axel knew where he was, and he knew without a doubt that he was no longer Batman in this place. He could feel it. His body was bare, and the sheets were soft around it. He knew, but he still opened his eyes. The lighting was soft, and the windows were covered. His hand found his aching head, and the feeling of… his mask was still in place! A surprised sound escaped his throat as he tried to sit up.

Then hands were pressing gently against his shoulders, insistently pressing him back down. "No, no, no, you lie down. You're recovering."

"You…"

"Yes, me," answered the grinning guy still wearing a stitched together leather cat-suit. "You thought I would leave you in the hands of the one who beat you down? Or worse… the authorities?" The half-maniacal and half-amused laugh filled the room. "No. I thought you knew that I liked you."

Quite suddenly the cat…man was sliding up close to him, and Axel's breath began coming faster than before. "I…" he began, but his brain couldn't quite form the words he needed to say to get himself out of this. He couldn't quite say that he didn't trust the motives behind this particular abduction, particularly not while he was still at this person's mercy. After all, weren't they all a little bit crazy?

"You doubt me, don't you," those soft looking lips pouted over him, while those blue eyes held a smile Axel… no, Batman… didn't trust. Axel could play with that mouth, but Batman had to watch it carefully.

"If I knew you in another-"

"If you knew me in another life, another time, another place," the man snapped, pushing himself away from Batman roughly. "You don't trust me! You don't think you can! I left you your identity, didn't I? I could have taken your mask! I could have let _him_ take you _and_ your mask!" He huffed making two fists that creaked in their black-leather gloves.

He didn't know what to say. All of those things were true, of course. Sitting up and fighting through the spinning that threatened to send him right back down again, he reached for one of those fists, and wrapped one large hand around the shorter man's small wrist. They were both a little bit crazy, weren't they?

"Hey," he said, but didn't get his next words out. Suddenly, the other man turned, pressing him roughly back down onto the thankfully soft surface he'd just been lying on. The next thing Axel-Batman knew there was a slightly smaller body on top of him, and soft lips pressing hard against his. He didn't try to talk, just let himself be kissed as his head spun around him.

They didn't have to really do anything except be together, did they? They both knew the other was insane, and might even have the same little inkling about their own mental capacities. So what was the harm in falling a little bit for one another? The masks were still on, weren't they? Maybe one kiss, one night, a few kisses, a few nights…wouldn't hurt. Fuzzy as he was feeling just then, Batman was finally just as willing to find out as Axel was.

"Mmm," he finally managed once the blue eyed cat-man released his mouth. "I could get used to the feeling of you kissing me like that."

A mischievous smile broke out across the smaller male's face, a stray hand trailing up Batman's bare torso. "The question is… how many lives do you have left, Batman? 'Cause I don't know that you'll survive a night with me."

"I think," Axel replied, green eyes glinting as he did so, "that I'm just crazy enough to want to find out."

The other hesitated slightly, eying him a moment before a slow smirk slid onto that half-hidden, yet still gorgeous, face. "Oh, I don't disappoint."

And with that, they continued where they left off, preparing to test some boundaries that both had long ago decided would not be crossed.


	8. Depression

**Author's Note**: So… this is very much a personal experience piece, except I never met my soul mate this way… though, I might've come damn close. ;) Dedicated to my lovely partner, fellow figure skater, and the Roxas to my Axel, Nicayal. :) I 3 you!

**Word Count**: 1888

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><p>Sometimes, he didn't know why, there were just days when getting out of bed was an impossible task. In fact, 'impossible' wasn't even a good enough word for saying that he could not, would not, didn't want to, whatever; he couldn't do it. He wasn't sure why he felt so sad and hopeless, like the world overshadowed him, or something did, but there it was. Axel didn't want to move.<p>

Luckily for him, he didn't have to. Today was Saturday. No work or school for at least another day, so he could weather this, right?

So he lay there, huddling over a few sodas, one beer, and letting the television play whatever it wanted, just so he could hear the noise of someone in the room. This house had always seemed too quiet, like there was someone he was supposed to have there with him. Unfortunately, he'd tried dating, and more often than not things just didn't seem to work out with men or women. It was as though he was supposed to do something, or meet someone, and he'd…missed the chance to do it.

He rolled over, glancing at the television screen before closing his eyes, again. Then, as if on cue, as though he had to, Axel snapped them open to stare at the images on the screen.

The advertisement was of an ice rink up the street from his house, which he had never been to because he hated the cold. Well, ice rinks were cold; why would he want to? Most importantly at that moment in time, why _did_ he want to? Because the moment he saw the logo of the facility flash across the screen, Axel had been visited with an intense desire to get up and head down the street to that very ice rink. It wasn't far, he could just walk, and if he didn't like it he could come right back home.

He had no idea why but the thought got him out of bed, and that was as good a reason as any to make him follow through with the silly idea. Then he stood in front of his closet, grabbing the first thing he saw, which happened to be an emerald green button-down shirt. Whatever, it was as good a shirt as any, he supposed. Except that once he had that on, he had to look for the dark jeans that went with it. He wasn't the kind of guy to just go out looking half put-together, whether or not anyone he knew was going to see him. So he hunted down the nicer pair of jeans, grabbed a black pair of shoes, and navy socks. The shoes weren't likely to last long if he decided to actually get on the ice, but he'd look good getting there.

Before he knew it, Axel was out of his house and heading for the ice rink. What a strange day it was turning out to be… The sun was shining irritatingly bright in the sky, as though it were trying to show him why he should have wanted to leave his bedroom all along. _Fuck you_, he thought, and then shook his head when he realized he was cursing the sun. Then he had to chuckle a little bit because it sounded so cheesy in his head; cursing the sun for shining. Wow, what was going on in his head?

As he got to the ice rink, Axel hesitated. He really did despise the cold, and he wasn't sure if the jacket he'd brought with him would be good enough to keep him warm in that fucking place. Who would want to skate on ice in the middle of the summer?

When he opened the door, green eyes spotted exactly the type of people who would want to do just that as a loud scratching noise grabbed his attention immediately. There on the ice were several skaters all doing the kinds of tricks and twirls and things that Axel was pretty sure he'd only seen on TV before this.

One of them landed one of those jump things right in front of him, turned around, and the triumphant grin on his face grabbed Axel's attention. Then, for a long moment he stood there in a trance, watching one of the most gorgeous guys he'd ever seen just skate around the edge of the rink by the wall-thingy, which he was more than a little happy was made of half-see-through materials so he could see every bit of that short blond in tight pants as he moved around.

The daze never really faded, but it began to direct itself a little. He noticed a few seats around the arena, and that there were people sitting in them watching these skaters. So, ignoring the helpful woman behind the counter who probably wanted to know what exactly Axel was doing there, he headed for the bleachers, hands in his pockets and never once taking his eyes off of that beautiful male figure skater.

He sat down in a corner away from where most of the other people sat, and just stared at the blond. He watched as the guy did things he could not name, watched as those short legs created speed, and watched every landed and messed up trick that the blond did.

All too soon, however, the blond was grabbing his things, and getting off of the ice. Axel didn't know what to do about that. He sat there in a kind of daze just looking at the chopped up ice surface, and wondering why he hadn't taken a walk down the street from his house sooner.

It was perhaps his good fortune that caused the blond to choose a seat not too far away from Axel to start untying those ice skates of his, or possibly very bad fortune since Axel had no idea what to do or say. Then the blond turned, and blue eyes met green ones, a slightly surprised look flashing through them before the automatic smile.

"Hey, I've never seen you here before. You skate," the guy asked as though it was no big deal, and he was talking to a normal human being.

To Axel, this was a big deal, and this guy was quite possibly some sort of god. "Uh… I-no," he stammered, half-annoyed with himself for being so caught up in those blue eyes. "I watch. I mean, I watched today. I just… I live down the street, so…"

The blond nodded his head, as though he understood perfectly, and turned back to what he was doing. Then, Axel couldn't stand the silence, or the fact that this guy might not talk to him again after that. He wanted to hear that voice again. Deep like a man's but not so low that it was intimidating; it was perfect.

"I-you're really good… out there, I mean," he stammered, wanting to kick himself for not finding the proper connection between his brain and his tongue. "How long have you been practicing?"

Those blue eyes glanced at him, a look there that he didn't quite recognize; exasperation, maybe, or something like graciousness that he couldn't really think of a reason for. Maybe the blond got these types of questions all the time, and it was Axel's bad luck that the conversation starter he'd hoped for was actually nothing more than a repeat of every encounter this guy had in this rink.

"Thanks. I've been skating for about ten years now," he responded, before turning back to his skates, which were now off of his feet.

"Wow," Axel replied, without thinking. "That's a long time."

The blond nodded, giving him a simple 'mmm hmm' without turning back around. He was running a rag over those sharp metal blades that were attached to the bottoms his ice skates, and Axel saw only one thing left for the blond to do before he was gone; his tennis shoes sat next to him on the bench and they would probably be the next and last thing the guy had to do before he got up and left. Thinking rapidly about how to keep the guy there, he came up with something that made him want to smack himself in the forehead, hard.

"I'm Axel," he said, getting up to move closer to the shorter guy and holding his hand out for the blond to shake.

Those blue eyes greeted his, and the blond smiled. "Roxas," he replied, setting the skate aside to shake Axel's hand. "Nice to meet you, Axel. Wow, you're tall."

Axel didn't really know what to say in response to that, but he nodded in agreement before countering with, "and to me, you're short."

Roxas snorted, "To you _everyone_ must be short."

Axel didn't know why that made his face heat up, but he grinned back. "I guess, you have a point there," he conceded, cheeks sore from the size of his big, stupid grin. "So, you hanging around to skate some more, or are you heading out?"

Pausing, the blond looked at him, obviously assessing before answering. "That depends," he answered, but didn't elaborate.

"On what," Axel finally asked, doing his best not to sound overeager or to stutter.

"On why you want to know."

The words were short, but those blue eyes were sparkling with something that made Axel answer truthfully despite himself. "I was wondering if you wanted to skate with me," he answered. "I've never done it before, so I'm not that good, but you're already here and you're cute and I'd like the company." He snapped his mouth shut after that, afraid of spitting something else he didn't want to share out. The blond hesitated, looking up at him, and Axel continued as if spurred on by some invisible force, scratching the back of his head as he spoke. "That is, you know, if you don't have anything better to do."

For some reason, that last bit made Roxas grin up at him; a little twinkle in his eye that made Axel think something mischievous was going through that gorgeous head of his. "You really want to skate around with me?"

"Well," he said, glancing at the shiny, slippery ice. "I mean, I just kind of want to do something with you. Skating was the first thing that came to mind… and like I said, we're already here." His face was definitely hot now.

"We are already here," Roxas echoed him. "Hrmm, if I'm going to skate again, though, I need something to eat first. Care to join me?"

Food! Damnit, why didn't he think of that? "Yeah, I'd love to."

So Axel followed Roxas to the snack bar, where they both ate something very bad for them before getting onto the ice together on the next public session. They talked, and laughed, and after the session discovered that they could still keep on talking if time allowed. So they did. And the next time Axel woke up feeling like he couldn't make himself get out of bed, Roxas was there to motivate him. Because really, his life felt a little less like it was missing something vital when the blond was around him.

They had their first real date three weeks later, and it was not at the ice rink.


	9. Firelight

**Author's Note: **Oh, now just look at me. I'm going out of order! Whatever, I had inspiration for this one, and I figured I'd have a difficult time working on Tears when I just finished one called 'Depression.' So Firelight… yup. This is the scenario it sparked in my brain. Hopefully it's coherent. ;) Also, don't expect two in one day very often… I'm just very, very behind on my NaNo Word count, and these are the stories I'm using for it. Well, this and some that I'm doing with Nicayal. :)

Anyway, enjoy!

**Word Count: **520

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><p>Firelight did interesting things to a person's face. For example, here Axel sat inches from Roxas's face, and the shadows that flickered across the pale skin there seemed to sizzle rather than cool the way a shadow should. He also found that the orange light that set those blue eyes on fire, flickered in and out across skin with the effect of cooling it somehow. If Axel had to explain it in words, it would be impossible. All he knew was that finally, for the first time, he was going to kiss the guy he'd been dreaming about for so long.<p>

The sharp feeling in his middle did nothing to make this an easy task. His breath was already coming in heaves, pressing harder between his lips, and pushing out again before it even managed to stifle the ache for more air. Why was he so nervous?

Roxas looked up at him in the firelight, expecting and, maybe, wanting. Leaning forward, closing the small, remaining gap, he did it. His lips met soft, yielding lips that greeted him like they'd been waiting a while for this hello. The first touch was experimental, soft; starting a conversation and seeing what the reply would be. The blond's reply was definitely an open ended one, keeping the conversation going, and leading it into different subjects as the firelight made colors dance behind closed eyelids.

He opened his mouth just slightly, testing his conversational move, because he wasn't sure if he would be accepted or rejected in this subject area. His tongue reached out to taste, gently sliding across Roxas's bottom lip, and the answering shudder sent a resounding shiver down Axel's spine. Now not just their lips were involved in this discussion; now their bodies were communicating as well.

The other mouth opened to him, and he slipped his tongue in to taste the mouth pressed against his, sighing as he felt the other organ slide against his own. Then the conversation got a little heated, a little frantic; a little closer. Without realizing he'd started it, Axel felt a hand stroke his cheek, noticing only after that touch that he was clutching Roxas's face and pulling the other man closer. Whether or not he wanted to, at that moment he could not let go.

Their conversation was a dance, a battle, both heated and sweet. But as it was the first and both knew they weren't ready for more just yet, no matter how badly they might want it, the conversation suddenly began to slow down; to cool down. Lips moved against lips more gently, and tongues slowly began to trace and then retreat. Memorization ensued, because all too soon the conversation was coming to an end.

Both men kept their eyes closed as long as they could, withdrawing slowly, and when two sets of eyes slowly began to open, firelight danced wildly off of two different colored irisesas they met. If the room had been warm before, it was now downright sweltering now, but neither Axel nor Roxas would be complaining, despite the slight discomfort of squirming in both torsos.


	10. Tears

**Author's Warning**: I wrote this entirely at the Night of Writing Dangerously, and have done very minimal proofing… it may be horrible. ;) Of course, you're more than welcome to write a review that lets me know whether or not it actually is. I'm always overjoyed to read reviews of my work! ^-^

**Word Count**: 1942

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><p>Heat was not something that he was used to feeling on his face, and he wasn't sure that he liked it at all. Of course, that was really the least of his problems, as it were. When a man, even one such as himself, is made to cry there are some serious things going on.<p>

See, Axel was not raised to believe that men had feelings, too; quite the contrary, actually. He was raised to be a tough guy the way his father was. Though his father had died less than three months after discovering his son's hidden secret about a love life he didn't think the old man would approve of, he still tried to emulate the man in everything he did. So why on earth was he being so weak, just then?

His father never would have cried, would he? Did the old man cry when he walked in on Axel making out with Saix two years ago? The rebellious red-head had wondered about that, since the shocked look on his father's face had looked nothing less than completely heart broken. It was as if the son had actually broken the father's soul because of the type of person he had fallen for in high school; or perhaps the gender of the person would be more accurate.

Well, maybe it would have made his father happy to discover that his first boyfriend and first love had cheated on him behind the bleachers with some blond punk from their first period class. Then perhaps the old man would have had something more to say, instead of letting an untimely heart attack speak for him. Why hadn't anyone warned him about that possibility? No, why had he been so stupid as to assume the other guy felt the same way about him as he felt.

He had slumped against a tree in what had once been an empty park, but as his thoughts began to clear a bit and focus he realized that there were quite a few people wandering past him now. The sounds of children playing filtered through to him from the nearby playground, dogs barking, and some older sounding voices calling out to their children, their dogs, or each other made the whole place seem pretty noisy and busy all of a sudden. Maybe this hadn't been a great place to stop after all.

Rising from the place he'd been sitting, Axel wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, turning to leave before even looking around. So it shouldn't have been, but it was a great surprise for the red head to find himself on his ass again after a somewhat painful collision with someone who was grumbling incoherently next to him.

Raising his green eyes, he saw to his surprise and humiliation that one of the most gorgeous blond men he'd ever seen was sitting next to him rubbing his elbow, and glaring. "Sorry, sorry," Axel said automatically before the good looking blond could start shouting at him. "I wasn't looking."

The guy in jogging shorts and running shoes looked like he was going to tear Axel a new one before getting a good look at his face. Shit. Was it obvious that he'd been crying? Shit, shit, shit. The blond just harrumphed, as he got to his feet, and reached a hesitant hand out to help the good looking runner to his feet.

"It's alright," the blond finally said, standing and brushing off his shorts. "You should be more careful by the running trail, though. Some of these guys would probably stab you for getting in the way of their track."

A somewhat hysterical laugh left Axel's lips at that, because the first thought that came to his mind was that maybe being stabbed would make him forget about the pain in his chest that didn't seem to want to go away, even in the face of those lovely blue eyes. The blond looked at him strangely, bringing him abruptly back to earth. "Yeah, well… I mean," he stumbled. "So-sorry again. Hopefully you're not the stabbing type. I just- it's been a long day."

The blond nodded, "I know the feeling. That's why I run, actually." Those blue eyes travelled up and down Axel's long, lean frame assessing him, he assumed, before the other man added, "Do you run? You, I mean, you have the body for it."

Axel quickly shook his head, and the blond went on almost without pausing. "You should. Long days are why I run, you know? Gets rid of a lot of stress, or you know… relieves it, anyway."

Suddenly, a gorgeous blush lit up the guy's pale skin, and made him forget all about the reasons why he'd been sitting in the park feeling miserable and actually letting tears run down his face in a very public place. He was afraid to ask what about that sentence had actually made the blond blush, though, only trying to think of a way to keep those gorgeous blue eyes on him a moment longer.

"Well," the blond began as though he was getting ready to make his escape, but Axel interrupted him.

"Can I buy you a sandwich, or a protein drink or something to make up for messing up your run," he asked, eyes lighting up with an odd hope that he wished he could suppress just then.

The blond hesitated a moment, assessing him once again before nodding slightly to himself. "Sure, I mean… yeah." That gorgeous blush lit his cheeks again, and before the other guy even elaborate further Axel felt himself slip into his usual, charming self.

With a bit of a grin, he interrupted, "I don't expect you to cut your workout short for me, or anything if that's what you're worried about. We could just meet for lunch somewhere in, let's say, two hours? Should give you enough time to finish your run, get to a shower, and change if you prefer to do any or all of that."

He winked at the blond to show that he was not taking this or himself too seriously, but that, yes, he was interested in that way. Luckily, Axel was usually a big enough guy to protect himself from people who didn't exactly appreciate being hit on by another man, otherwise his usual playful flirting would have landed him in trouble more often. Though, he was also very perceptive on those counts, because he'd only once hit on a straight guy on accident, and that was mostly because he had thought that the other guy was bi.

No mistakes here, though. The blush on those lovely cheeks remained in place, but he smiled warmly despite whatever thoughts kept the rouge up.

"No, I'm actually done with my workout, I was just heading home," he said, then he paused, looking Axel over again as though remembering something. "You sure you're alright after that collision to ask me out," he asked, a playful glint in his eye.

"I could be on a stretcher and I'd still ask you out," Axel quipped back, smile getting wider.

The blond rolled his eyes at that, but his smile didn't falter. "Got a place in mind, or am I supposed to telepathically divine your location later?"

Axel nearly jumped at that, realizing he hadn't even managed to get the guy's name yet, and he had already asked him out to lunch. "Uh… how do you feel about that sandwich shop around the corner? I think it's called… Witchcraft?"

"I've never been there before," the blond admitted.

"Well," Axel shrugged, "you can have your first time there with me if you like, or we can pick a location you'd prefer. Either way, it's up to you under one condition."

The blond looked up at him with slight skepticism at that, and quirked one eyebrow. "What condition?"

"You tell me your name," Axel answered almost too eagerly.

That made the blond boy laugh, and the red head had to admit to himself that he absolutely loved the sound of that laugh. It was beautiful and contagious enough that he almost found himself laughing at his own jest.

"The name's Roxas," the shorter man answered. "Do I get your name in return, or just the pick of the location?"

"Oh, I guess you can have my name in return, if you really want it," Axel answered grinning from ear to ear. "It's Axel. You know, like a car or maybe a figure skating move, depending on your interests."

Roxas snorted before rolling his eyes again. "Axel, ha? Interesting name."

"Yeah," Axel replied. "I'm convinced my parents hated me or something." He shrugged, his smile never once faltering. "So how about it, Roxas? Lunch at Witchcraft, or the nameless location of your choice?"

"Witchcraft is fine," Roxas replied. "Like I said, I've never been there before, so I can't exactly say no can i? Since I don't have a good reason to."

Axel liked this guy more and more with every word he spoke. "I guess you don't have a good reason, no. Do you have a good time in mind, since your workout's done with?"

The lovely blond thought about that for a minute, blue eyes lifting skyward as he did so in an adorable look of thought/ concentration. "Give me an hour," he finally asked. "I live up the road, and need a shower before I go anywhere with anyone… like you." They both grinned at that.

"Okay," Axel said. "See you in an hour." Then grinning, they went their separate ways.

In all honesty, Axel wasn't entirely sure he was ready to go on a first date with someone he just met when he'd just, just gotten out of a relationship in the worst possible way. He thought this as he walked in the opposite direction the blond had turned. He'd absolutely love to have met this guy first, and been able to say that Saix had just been a little crush that he was past already. However, that wasn't what had happened at all, and now his heart ached and his eyes wanted to keep watering even though he had just stood there flirting with one of the most gorgeous guy he'd ever seen.

He really hoped that Roxas was his age even, come to think, but really… this couldn't be a bad thing could it? He'd just take it slow. He could do that. A lunch date. Perhaps a phone number next. Maybe even a workout partner after that. And possibly, if it was even something they could pursue, another date and a new boyfriend.

Could he plan things out like that? It hadn't worked for his last boyfriend, but that didn't mean it couldn't work for his next boyfriend, right? Wasn't dating all about finding that one person that fit into your life, and whose life you fit into? All of your plans, and the things that you hoped for suiting one another's like they suited no one else… and living together happily as a result of it? That's what he thought it was supposed to be like. Maybe he was meant to be in this park where Roxas had been running, and supposed to stand up at that very moment, the realization that he was embarrassed by the crowd of people surrounding him as he cried, to crash into this gorgeous blond guy. Without the whole Saix mess, he might never have done that.

So who knew? Saix may very well have been responsible for a fated meeting between Axel and this gorgeous guy named Roxas. Only time would tell.


	11. Burning

**Author's Note**: I am well aware that this has been written before, and will probably be written again. It is also depressing and short... yeah. I don't know, that's just what came out when I read the word 'burning.' Stream of consciousness or something... that's what you get. Hope you like it. ^-^

**Word Count**: 327

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><p>Was it because the fire around him was actually touching his skin, or because there were tears in his eyes for the first time that he could remember? Axel didn't know. What he was aware of was the burning, but he would not cry out or show any kind of weakness. He had let Roxas beat him, and so he would display as calm a death as he was able, suffering in near silence.<p>

His chest rose and fell heavily as his hands fell to the floor, and he turned to look up at the face he feared he would never see again. Staring into blue eyes, Axel silently implored Roxas to come closer; to demonstrate something that proved he still cared like he used to. The blond didn't move.

Where had he gone wrong? What had he done to make the man he loved look at him this way? He could feel himself fading, and Roxas just stood there, watching.

With everything he could muster, with a breath he thought might just be his last, he spoke. "Let's meet again, in the next life…"

"Yeah, I'll be waiting," Roxas answered him, looking at him levelly as though he didn't really believe what Axel was saying.

Maybe the blond didn't believe that Axel was fading, was that it?

"Silly," he laughed, resisting the gasp that was trying to force its way down his throat. "Just because you have a next life."

With that, Axel felt his body burning to ashes, could feel himself fading, burning. That was when Roxas ran forward. Maybe he heard the cry of pain that hadn't quite managed to reach the red-head's ears, or maybe he finally noticed the way green eyes were beginning to fade. Whatever the reason, he reached Axel's side quickly, but too late. He held out a hand, reaching out to touch or comfort or apologize, but smoke was all that was left there for his skin to meet.


	12. Craving

**Author's Note**: This is a commission for my lovely partner. Yes, it's SoRiku, or if you want to be really specific it's RikuxRiku. ;) Enjoy. I'm not too sure about the ending, but if I ever have time to go back and edit stuff, I'll worry about it then.

**Word Count**: 1041

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><p>He didn't know how he had managed to hold on, but he did. Riku had let his parents lecture him all the way home about how messy he looked, and how Sora never looked as mussed up as he had when he came downstairs. He had listened in silence, a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth and attempting to give him away while he let himself remember how Sora's hair had stuck up in the back when he left. Riku had to stop himself there though because if he let himself remember why his friend's hair had been sticking up in the back, he would be in a world of hurt.<p>

When they arrived home, the silver-haired boy got out of the backseat of their car careful to let his jacket hang below his waist, shirt untucked to hide most of the evidence. He let his mother go on talking about how he needed to be 'more like Sora' until they got inside, then he turned and lowered his head to her in as respectful a way as he could manage, and started up the stairs to his room.

Strangely enough she didn't shout after him or tell him to 'get back here; I'm talking to you!' He actually made it all the way up the stairway before his father called up something about a brunch tomorrow with the group.

"What time," had been his only question, and he had nodded upon receiving the answer though he didn't actually hear it.

The minute that his bedroom door was shut and locked behind him, Riku groaned, dropping everything in his arms without really noticing, and undoing the button and zipper to his pants as quickly as he was able without hurting himself. God, Sora had really done a number on him, all without actually having to touch him.

Kicking off his pants as he went, Riku let his legs carry him to his bed on the far side of the room, awkwardly crawling onto it before leaning back on his pillows, and finally letting his mind replay the events from earlier in the evening.

Sora with his eyes half-open, his finger inside Sora, his mouth around Sora; that was all it took to get him fully erect, again. It wasn't as though he'd ever fully relaxed since the two of them had been interrupted, and Sora had seemed eager to try to do the same for him; almost his friend's exact words, as a matter of fact.

The idea of the brunette's mouth on him like that made Riku groan out loud as he hurriedly rolled over to reach for the warming lubricant in his bedside drawer before pressing it open and squeezing some of the liquid into his palm. Snapping the bottle shut he tossed it aside, and began spreading the slippery substance over his hands feeling the tingling warmth spread over his fingers as he closed his eyes to picture those big, blue eyes looking up at him from below his waist.

"Nnnng," he moaned, his head falling back as he freed his own erection, fingers wrapping around it and sliding down once like Sora's mouth might have.

It wasn't long before he was picturing a bobbing brunette head, unruly spikes bouncing as Sora swallowed him whole and sucked his way back to the tip. His fingers became his friend's tongue, sliding across his slit, and caressing its way along the underside as far down as he could reach. He increased the pressure, squeezing a little as the Sora in his imagination sucked hard and swallowed.

Riku had been worked up for too long, resisting the urge to fantasize about his friend in those provocative pants all evening, ignoring the thoughts of what it might be like to rip open the brunette's button down shirt, and then making Sora scream once they were locked in the bedroom together. If only they hadn't been interrupted he wouldn't have to imagine this, but would instead have a wonderful memory to live off of for a while instead.

A memory wasn't what he had though, just a visual; half-lidded eyes, a writhing naked body, and loud moans that had reverberated into a pillow… or something a little harder and a little smaller.

"Ha. Nnnng, Sora…"

His hands… or no, the brunette's head moved faster, taking him all the way in and applying more pressure. He could imagine it well enough. Blue eyes stared up at him, now wide and fearful, begging him to like this, and he did but Riku wouldn't let him know as much just yet. The groan in the back of his throat turned into a commanding growl before he remembered he was alone, and was thankful for it. He'd waited too long to have any stamina.

The first release caught him by surprise because he hadn't felt the tension. "Ah," he sighed out loud. "God, Sora, god."

His hands kept moving though, and the pounding in his body doubled as another spurt slipped over his hands and another soon after. Riku let out a long groan, and then felt his body fall flat onto the bed again, not having noticed that he'd bowed his back during climax.

Breathing hard, he opened his eyes only to realize that his remarkable visual of Sora was only that, a visual. Turning his head to the side, he closed his eyes, imagining the brunette lying next to him on his pillow and smiled. Damnit all. Maybe he could call him? Would Sora still be up?

Reaching across his body to his bedside table, and not looking at the pillow on his other side as he did so, he grabbed a baby wipe to clean himself off, tossed it into the nearby trashcan, and reached for his cell phone. He pressed send, noticing that Sora was the last person he'd called before pressing send again. Rolling over, Riku closed his eyes again, picturing his friend lying down next to him with those big blue eyes focused on him. Why he was being so fucking sappy all of a sudden, he didn't know, but he just wanted to hear the brunette's voice, which he would whether Sora was awake to answer or not.


	13. Drowning

How stupid could he be? Axel had warned him to stay off of the ice today, pointing out that it had not been cold enough long enough for the lake to be properly frozen. He had warned Roxas that skating on the pond would be a bad idea, and Roxas had ignored him.

"If it's frozen enough to walk across it to your place then I'll be fine," he'd bragged, taunting Axel instead for being too much of a coward to join him. How stupid could he be?

He had laced up his skates, set up his net, and began taking shots at it. He did laps from one side of the frozen pond to the other, making it through one set of suicides before heading back to the side he had started on. As he crossed again, breaking and stepping to change direction, his blade slipped. That was no big deal really because everyone who had ever been on skates knew that even the most skilled skaters sometimes slipped on the ice. What was a big deal was the freezing cold that greeted him a moment later as he plunged into the frozen water below the surface.

Roxas did not know how it had happened; only that it had. One moment he was skating on the pond, and the next he was sinking into its frozen depths. His breath seemed to leaves his lungs immediately and he had already been out of breath, heart pounding, before the ice had given way.

Within a very short amount of time his lungs were screaming for air, and he was struggling to stay alive, kicking as hard as he could to get back up. His skates were weighing him down, but the idea never crossed his mind to untie them. Even if his fingers had not been numb, it would have cost him too much time. Why had he never thought to train his lungs for something like this by holding his breath while he laced and unlaced his skates?

He was barely alive, struggling not to breath in, when his fingers found the slippery surface above him. If Roxas could have cried, he would have. The hole he had fallen through was nowhere in sight, and above him was solid ice. Hoping against all hope, he punched it trying to get through before his lungs gave out and he inhaled water into his lungs, but it was no use. The ice might have been too feeble to hold his weight atop it, but it was strong enough to prevent him from punching through it from below. Roxas was going to drown.

Roxas tried not to give up, but he could feel his body weakening. His arms suddenly would not cooperate and his legs truly began to drag him down. Kicking was no use. Roxas could feel the surface slipping away. For a moment, he kicked harder, slapping at the ice and trying to slide across it to locate the hole he had fallen through; for a moment.

His vision was going black, and suddenly he could see every moment in his whole life flashing behind his eyelids. From as early as he could remember, flashes were playing like a movie reel for him to watch. There was his first birthday cake, he was just old enough to realize that the strawberries on the cake looked delicious, but not old enough to know that he shouldn't take them off and eat them while people were still singing him "Happy Birthday." There was his first bike, and his first bike crash which was the reason he had first met Axel. There was the first thing they had bonded over, a camping "trip" in the woods behind Roxas's house. The first time they had been allowed to create their own campfire, and their first hockey game against one another.

In sixteen years, the two boys had spent quite a bit of time together, only now that he was seeing it, however, did Roxas realize how much time. It was so important. During all of these years, it had been Axel who had been with him every step of the way. He had been the friend Roxas ran to when he was bored, when he got hurt, when he wanted to play, when he wanted to shout, when he got his first kiss, when he realized he was not normal like all the other boys his age, and now that he was dying it was Axel in his thoughts.

Why had Roxas never realized before that he loved Axel? He had almost seventeen years to see it, and now not only would Roxas never see his next birthday but he would never see Axel again. Why hadn't he seen it before so that he could tell him? How stupid could he be?

With the last of his strength, he kicked with all his might toward the slippery surface above him that was slipping away. It must have been a good kick too because he hit his head hard on something, the ice probably, before his lungs gave out and the burning cold water rushed into them. His body tried to cough it up, but that only made it worse. The last thing Roxas was aware of was searing pain in his chest before he blacked out completely.

Dying was interesting, though. It felt a little bit like floating now that he was no longer conscious, but he could not open his eyes. His hearing had been disrupted too, because it sounded to Roxas as though someone was calling to him from one end of a long tunnel while he was on the other side. However, maddeningly he could not understand the words that were being shouted at him.

Roxas was not one to stand for things that bothered him. He was always the first to say when someone or something was worrying him, upsetting him, or just plain getting on his nerves. So he tried to remedy the situation by shouting back. This was his first idea and it went as poorly as anyone could imagine because he was apparently unable to speak. Well, fine. There was a solution to that, just move towards the sound so that he could hear it better, and this seemed to work much better. The noises were getting clearer, becoming more distinct, and coming nearer to him. Or was he getting closer to them? It was difficult to tell at this stage.

He couldn't quite make them out, but the closer he got the more distinct the voice became. If Roxas could have choked or sobbed, he might have done it as he finally recognized who was speaking to him at the end of that tunnel.

"No, no, no, Roxas. You can't," it shouted.

_Axel_, he wanted to answer, but still he could not speak. _Axel, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. I'm an idiot. And… and I love you. I've always loved you; I was just too stupid to realize it before now. Please forgive me. I'm sorry._ A sob broke from Axel's throat as though he had heard him, and then he started shouting again.

"Roxas," he cried so loudly the echo reverberated back to them a couple more times. "Roxas, don't you dare, you idiot! Wake up! Come on!"

There was a pounding noise that punctuated each pause in Axel's speech, too. It was a sort of thump-thump-thump and then it would pause while a hollow whoosh of air filled Roxas's ears. Then the thump-thump-thumps would begin the cycle again. What was that noise? It seemed important somehow, like something Roxas should pay attention to. Those strange sounds were the only ones louder than Axel's screaming, and the blond heard them the way he could hear his own heartbeat when it pounded in his ears.

He focused on it, hard, and then suddenly pain shot throughout his entire body and his throat burned. There was the sound of water splashing against the ground, and the sensation of being unable to breathe returned to Roxas. He was choking. He could not get any air into his lungs, and the sound of so much water spilling onto the ground kept his senses busy as he struggled for air. Was he supposed to need air in the afterlife?

Then the whooshing sound was back, and Roxas felt as though his throat was on fire as cold air rushed into it and filled his lungs with oxygen. God, it hurt! His body was burning, and it felt as though he would never stop coughing and gasping. His eyes were burning, and heat was spilling down his cheeks. He didn't realize until he opened his eyes that he might have actually survived, but the aching all over his body and the burning in his lungs made him half-wish that he had not before darkness rushed in on him again and he knew no more.

~0-0~0-0~0-0~0-0~

_Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. _

What the hell was that noise? It was annoying. Was it his alarm clock? Couldn't be, he was on vacation and hadn't set his alarm since sometime last week. So what the hell was it?

"Mom," he called, but his voice, thick and sore from sleeping, didn't come out in more than a cracked whisper. He tried again. "Axel, tell my mom to turn that thing off, will you?" He was sure it was something his mother was doing in the other room. Roxas could always make Axel get up when he didn't feel like doing it.

There was a strange noise beside him, and his brain made sense of it by assuming it was a snort. "I will when you get up, Roxas," said Axel's raspy voice.

Roxas intended to roll over and elbow his friend, but found that he was too weak to manage it. Had he fallen asleep on his arm or something? It wasn't tingling, but he had woken up some mornings with a numb hand that was so weak he could barely lift it or squeeze it into a fist.

He tried opening his eyes, but shut them again as soon immediately trying to block the brightness of the room from his vision. Of course, now that he had done that, it was impossible to ignore how bright his room was. Groaning, he tried to roll over, but something was restraining him. What the hell?

_Beep, beep, beep. _

Blinking rapidly, Roxas slowly managed to open his eyes, which stung and watered as his eyes adjusted to the bright, white room he was lying in. Then his blue eyes widened as he saw where he took in the hospital room. "Wha-"

He tried to sit up, but something restrained him again. Frantic to find out what was going on and heart pounding in panic, Roxas flailed, eyes searching first his body, which was covered in wires and under a white sheet, and then his surroundings.

_Babeep, babeep, babeep, babeep._

Then he turned and saw Axel, and Roxas frozen. Eyes still wide, his entire memory rushed back in on him like a tidal wave, crashing into him as he looked into deep pools of green.

"Axel?"

"You're awake," the red head, rasped out a small smile on his lips, "you idiot."

The next thing Roxas knew, Axel had wrapped long arms around him, and had pressed warm lips against his own. It took a moment before the blond realized that his closest friend was kissing him. His mind reeled, remembering the revelation he had had beneath the surface of the ice cold water. Maybe he wasn't the only one who had had it.

When Axel released him, Roxas did not hesitate. He knew what he had to say, and he had to say it now before anything else happened; he didn't ever want to wait to say something like this ever again. Life was too fragile, too short. So many things could happen to stop him from seeing those green eyes again, and then it would all be too late. It had already come so close to being too late. So he blurted it out, even though it made that annoying beeping sound increase in speed.

"I love you, Axel."

Before he could even blink, Roxas was being kissed again, but this time he could close his eyes and savor the feeling. This time he could lift a hand, if only just barely, and rest it on Axel's and squeeze ever so slightly. When the red head pulled back from him again, it was only to rest their foreheads together and catch their breaths.

"I love you, too," he answered. "So don't you ever do that to me again, Roxas. Got it memorized?"

Happy to agree to that, Roxas nodded, ignoring the frantic beeping of the heart monitor as the feeling of Axel's warm breath on his face really started to sink in. He planned on letting the heat between them warm him up for as long as his closest friend held him. For his part, Roxas hoped that Axel would never let him go.

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Happy New Year, everyone! I was stuck on my most recent fic (a private commission by my partner with SoRiku and AkuRoku and merpeople), and this little one-shot decided to override my mind for a bit.

I hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you have a moment. Feedback is always welcome and appreciated. :)

Hope your 2012 is everything you hope it will be, and so much more!

**Word Count**: 2183


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